


Message received

by lasvegas_lights



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, POV Danny "Danno" Williams, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24239389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasvegas_lights/pseuds/lasvegas_lights
Summary: Post 10x22.Steve leaves and over the next six months, Danny receives various forms of correspondence from Steve. It leads them to something they've been heading towards for ten years.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 19
Kudos: 234





	Message received

**Author's Note:**

> Another post-ep fic. Again with no Cath (I refuse to acknowledge her presence in the last episode!) Enjoy!!!

The first piece of correspondence arrives a month after Steve leaves. Danny can't help but feel a little bit suspicious when he sees the thick brown paper envelope with a logo for a well known Oahu law firm in the left-hand corner. Danny opens it over breakfast, wiping the scattering of toast crumbs off the table for Eddie to hoover up off the carpet as he lays the pile of papers he finds inside down in front of him.   
  
As his eyes scan the text, he finds himself equally surprised and unsurprised by what he reads. The law firm, on Steve’s behalf, has sent him the deed to Steve's house. At the bottom of it, under Steve's name and Mary's, he can see it’s been amended to also include his own name.  
  
"Sonofa..." he mutters.  
  
There's no explanation given for the change, no message from Steve himself and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth which he washes down with OJ.  
  
His first instinct is to send a strongly worded text-message to Steve about his bad habit of making huge decisions about Danny's life without discussing it with him first, but he hasn't heard from his friend in a few days and that can only mean he's travelling somewhere without much phone signal.   
  
Instead, he scrolls down through his address book and finds Mary’s number.   
  
_ Did you know about this?   
  
_ He includes a photo of the deed on the dining room table. Danny doesn’t expect a response straight away and he’s elbows deep into his laundry when his phone buzzes in his back pocket.   
  
Mary’s response is an eye-roll GIF which Danny takes to mean of course she knew about it.   
  
_ And you’re okay with it? _   
  
He can’t help but ask.   
  
_ Not like I plan on living there any time soon.   
  
_ He knows she’s right. Mary hadn’t been back to Oahu in over a year and it had been a few years since the time before that. Steve had given up coaxing her back to the Island and had visited her out in LA a couple of times, always combining the visit with a trip to San Francisco to catch up with Chin and Abby.   
  
_ He just wants to make sure you’re taken care of whilst he’s doing his eat, pray, love schtick.   
  
_ Danny frowns.  
  
_ Eat, pray, what?  
  
_ _ Nvm.   
  
_ He looks down at Mary’s last message and sighs.   
  
_ I don’t need taking care of. I thought the whole point of him going away was for him to learn to take care of himself?   
  
_ _ It’s going to take him more than a month to learn how to do that.   
  
_ Mary reminds him.   
  
“Right,” he sighs again.   
  
He’s still angry at Steve for using his absence as a cowardly way of doing whatever the hell he wants and getting away with it, no matter the good intentions behind it.  
  
It doesn’t change much though. Danny had given up his own place for good before Steve had left and he has no intentions of finding another place to live when there’s a perfectly good house with a sea view that he could never be able to afford on his own. Steve’s dad had paid off the mortgage a year or two before he died so it’s easier on his bank balance and with Junior now mostly living at Tani’s there’s enough space for when Charlie comes to stay.   
  
Looking through the papers again later after dinner, he realises he needs to sign one of the forms and send it back for it to be completely finalised. He hesitates for a moment before fishing out a pen from John McGarrett’s desk and placing his signature on the dotted line. It’s been a long time since he’s owned any property and there’s something about finally putting down permanent roots on Oahu that should terrify him, except it doesn’t.   
  
He’s still annoyed with Steve but he realises he’s not 100% sure what he’s more annoyed about; Steve taking matters into his own hands or the fact that even thousands of miles away Steve knows what Danny needs more than he does himself.   
  
He marks the occasion with a glass of wine which his doctor doesn’t need to know about. He finishes the glass slowly, gulping down the last few drops of red out on the lanai, Eddie running in circles around him. 

* * *

The second piece of correspondence is a postcard just a few weeks later. He finds it, picture up, on his desk at work and he stares down at it for a long time before picking it up. The photo is of a desert at sunset which could have been taken anywhere hot. Placed at a jaunty angle over the top of the photo is Dubai in bright orange and blue lettering, clueing Danny in on where it was sent from.   
  
Somehow he knows it’s from Steve even before he flips it over. He’s not sure why it’s addressed to the office and not the house until Tani walks in with a similar postcard in her hand.   
  
“We all got one,” she explains, nodding to the card in his hand. “What’s yours say?”  
  
Danny looks down at the message on the left-hand side in Steve’s unmistakeable handwriting and then back up to meet Tani’s curious eyes. “It says: Dear Tani, those reports won’t write themselves,” he punctuates the snarky comment with a smirk.  
  
She rolls her eyes, “ _Ha ha_ ,” Slowly she turns her back to Danny and pushes the glass door open. Before letting the door close behind her, she stops and turns her head back to look at him. “He sounds good right? Happy?”  
  
“Would an unhappy Steve send a postcard?” Danny responds.   
  
She shrugs, not particularly convinced by his answer and disappears across the hallway to her own office.   
  
Alone once again, he returns his gaze to the card and the message. It was short but Steve had managed to fill the space with us unusually large scribblings. It had taken him the first full year at 50 to decipher Steve’s handwriting. Quinn had only just about managed the same feat before Steve left.   
  
_ Danno,   
_ _ Hope you’re keeping the kids out of trouble. Hug Eddie for me okay? Wish you were here.  
_ _ Love,  
_ _ Steve _

It’s not much to go on though Danny does find himself dwelling on the last sentence for most of the day.   
  
_ Wish you were here.   
  
_ Is he missing Danny as much as he misses Steve? Not that he’ll ever admit that to any other human (He and Eddie commiserate over it every now and again). As much as he wants it to mean something, he quickly rationalises it as nothing more than something you say on a postcard to a good friend. He’s probably written the same thing on everyone else’s.   
  
He catches Tani attempting to sneak into his office twice to read the postcard. Just to be safe, he slides it into his back pocket and takes it home with him when he’s finished for the day. As requested, he greets Eddie at the front door with a hug from Steve before taking the postcard into the kitchen and sticking it to the fridge with a pineapple magnet Steve had gotten him for his birthday a few years ago as a joke.   
  
He  absolutely  _ does not _ read the message again before bed or again at breakfast. 

* * *

Steve’s text messages arrive sporadically. If Danny’s lucky, he’ll get a couple a week. One is normally to let him know that Steve’s still alive and has another stamp in his passport. The other will be a photo of a nice view or a tourist trap that Steve’s found himself at. The photo always comes with a comment. Sometimes it’s about the weather or how nice and welcoming the people are. Other times he says things that leave Danny missing Steve even more. Like when he mentions the wildlife he’s seen that Grace would love or the places he goes which remind him of Danny.   
  
Work isn’t the same without him and the house, whilst still regularly filled with friends and family members, is emptier somehow. The sound of the waves starts keeping him up again and driving anywhere on the island is a chore when there isn’t someone in the seat next to him keeping him distracted from the traffic.   
  
_ Why is it you can never find a socket when you need one?....... _ _ I’m bored _ ...... _ What you up to?  
  
_ The messages from Steve arrive whilst he’s in the shower. When he re-enters Steve’s, no,  _ his _ bedroom, Steve’s been waiting five minutes for a response. 

_ Flight delayed?  
  
_ He replies as he lowers himself down on the bed. The covers will get wet but they’ll be dry again before he’s ready for bed.   
  
_ How’d you guess?  
  
_ _ Lack of plug sockets, boredom = airport. _ He answers.  _ I’m a pretty good detective y’know. Have you been gone so long that you’ve forgotten that?  
  
_ Steve doesn’t answer straight away and Danny feels bad for the dig. He’s been trying to be supportive of Steve’s sabbatical even if he’s unhappy about it. He knows Steve needed some time to himself and had certainly earned it for all that he’d gone through and sacrificed for state and country, but he can’t help but resent Steve for leaving whilst he was still recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Plus he did kind of leave Danny to pick up the pieces he left behind including a team who were still figuring out how to continue without Steve and a son who kept asking where Uncle Steve was. Not to mention the deep pit in his stomach which left him wondering on more than one occasion if it was Oahu Steve had run away from or Danny.   
  
_ I haven’t forgotten. _ Steve finally replies.   
  
_ Good. _ Danny types back.   
  
_ Everyone okay?  
  
_ _ Surely you already know the answer to that. I know you’ve been using Junior to keep tabs on us all.  
  
_ _ Nothing gets past you, does it?  
  
_ “Kind of in the job description,” Danny mutters to himself.  _ So where are you off to this time?   
  
_ He’s tried to keep track of all the places but Steve hasn’t spent more than a week in one place. Danny suspects it’s because Steve has yet to find anywhere that makes him feel at home and there was probably a very good reason for that.   
  
There’s no response.   
  
_ Steve?  
  
_ He sends another couple of messages but again Steve doesn’t reply. It’s a whole twenty four hours later before a message comes through.   
  
_ Sorry, phone died. Made it to Singapore, speak soon.   
  
_ “Speak soon?” He reads out loud. Luckily he’s on his own in the office, “Yeah right.”   
  
It’s been over two months since Danny has heard Steve’s voice. Not that he’s counting or anything. 

* * *

Danny is arriving home from dropping Charlie back off at Rachel’s when the delivery van pulls up beside the Camaro. He waits, leaning against the side of the car as the driver digs around in the back for a minute or so and then jumps out with a large package held between both hands.   
  
“Danny Williams?” The man checks, glancing down at the address on the box and then up at Danny.   
  
Danny nods, “That’s me.”   
  
The package is lowered to the ground at Danny’s feet and a small tablet is pushed in his direction alongside a plastic pen. “Sign here.”  
  
Danny scribbles something vaguely resembling his signature and hands it back. “Have a good day.”  
  
“Mahalo,” The man replies cheerfully before climbing back in his van and reversing out of the driveway.   
  
Danny’s confused at first by the box. He’s pretty sure he hasn't ordered anything. Crouching down to pick it up, he notices the foreign postage and quickly realises who the sender is.   
  
The box has some weight to it and it’s large enough that Danny can’t see his feet as he carries it into the house and over to the coffee table. It must have cost Steve a fortune to post.   
  
Abandoning the box briefly, he heads into the kitchen and returns a moment later with a sharp knife. The knife makes quick work of the packing tape wrapped around the cardboard and soon he's able to discard the knife to pull at the flaps until the contents are revealed.   
  
The package is filled to the brim with trinkets, candy, and souvenirs from Steve’s travels. Each is labelled with a name for its recipient. Danny pulls out some bars of Belgium chocolate for Charlie first which uncovers a chess set for Lou and a carved wooden elephant for Quinn. There’s jewelry and a printed scarf for Grace, a mosaic photo frame for Tani and a humorous Pisa mug which leans to one side like the tower for Junior. As he continues to lift more presents out of the box, he finds gifts for Kamekona, Duke, Adam and Noelani which are inspected then placed carefully down on the coffee table. Danny knows he’ll be spending the rest of the week delivering the gifts around the island and curses Steve for volunteering him for the role. 

He stops when he gets to the bottom of the box. There’s just one gift left with ‘Danno’ written in Steve’s awful scribble across the label. It’s a book, small enough to fit in his back pocket, with a photo of the Houses of Parliament on the cover alongside a promise to reveal the fifty best things to do in London.   
  
Reaching for the book, his fingers curl around the spine just as the front door swings open. Danny’s head turns sharply, surprised by the sudden visitor. When Junior steps across the threshold he relaxes.   
  
“Sorry,” Junior apologises for the unexpected intrusion. “Thought you were out. Just came to pick up Eddie for a run.”  
  
“S’okay,” Danny smiles back. He tightens his grip on the box and lifts it funny out of the box, “Last time I saw him he was asleep upstairs,” he nods that direction.   
  
Junior nods back and takes the stairs two at a time with energy Danny can’t remember ever having. He reappears a moment later, Eddie hot on his heels. On his descent down the staircase, Junior finally notices the package and it’s contents.   
  
“What’s that?”  
  
“This?” Danny looks down at the now-empty box. “Presents, from Steve.”  
  
Junior’s face lights up at his mentor’s name. “Yeah?”   
  
As Eddie rushes over and begins to sniff suspiciously at the gifts he can reach with his nose, Danny selects Junior’s gift from the middle of the table and hands it over.   
  
“For me?” He grins at the silly mug.   
  
“There’s something for Tani too. Why don’t you pick them both back up after your run?” Danny suggests.   
  
“Thanks,” Junior’s smile gets impossibly wider. The mug is put back down on the table for now and Junior heads back towards the door. With a sharp whistle, Eddie whips around and pads towards Junior happily. Junior pauses at the door, his hand frozen on the handle as he looks back at Danny.  
  
“You know why he sent all those?”   
  
Danny shrugged. “You know Steve, pathologically incapable of thinking about himself first. The man can’t help but spend all his money on gifts for us.”   
  
“Right,” Junior nods slowly, but something in his expression tells Danny he’s not satisfied with the answer he was given.   
  
“Have fun on your run,” Danny says, ending the conversation. Junior nods again and disappears out the door with Eddie.   
  
Once the house is quiet again, Danny drops down onto the couch and lets out a sigh. The book, his present from Steve, is still in his hand which he only realises when his tight grip starts to ache.   
  
_ Idiot, _ he thinks as he stares at the book. All the time away from home trying to learn how to focus on himself for once and all he does is look for gifts for other people. If flying halfway around the world can’t get Steve to stop caring for everyone else first, Danny doesn’t know what will.  
  
He flicks through the book casually, spotting the odd London landmark he’s actually seen himself and others he’s wanted to visit. Some of the locations are circled in red marks and Danny frowns at the defaced pages as he thumbs through them. Eventually, he gets to the front of the book and stops at the sight of more scribbled handwriting on the inside cover. Bending the spine to get a good look at the message written in the same red ink, Danny reads it over once then reads it again.   
  
_ Danno, Hope you don’t mind handing the presents out for me. I’ve been carrying them around for weeks, adding to the collection in every country I visited but my bag was starting to get heavy. Hope you like the book. I crossed off all the places I visited whilst in London and the ones we visited together. Wasn’t the same without you.  
  
_ Danny can’t help but flick back to the page on Buckingham palace and shakes his head when he discovers the whole page circled in red with a couple of exclamation marks too.   
  
It’s only hours later when he’s washing up his dishes from dinner, long after Junior has returned with Eddie and left again soon after with his and Tani’s gifts, that he realises what Junior’s reaction to the box and Steve’s message really means. Lifting his hands out of the soapy water, he makes his way back into the living room where he’d left the book. He quickly dries his hands on his slacks until they’re less damp and picks the book back up, forcing the front cover back so he can read the message for the third time.   
  
The presents aren’t been completely unexpected. Steve had messaged a couple of times about picking things up for people in markets and tacky tourist shops. But Danny had expected for the gifts to arrive with Steve in tow. The box is a message Danny reads loud and clear. The same message Junior had figured out a lot earlier than he did. Steve isn’t planning on returning any time soon.   
  
The realisation sucks. The book and every other gift cluttering up the living room suck. He doesn’t want presents. He wants Steve back. By the sounds of things, he won’t be getting that for a while yet. The scarier thought that Steve may never return is quickly pushed to the back of his mind.   
  
He delivers each individual gift by hand. The collection of trinkets sitting in the trunk of his car dwindling as he hands them out until they’re all gone. Every present is received with a smile and an inescapable conversation about Steve. 

* * *

The letter arrives almost six months after Steve left. The address on the small envelope is handwritten so Danny knows it’s from him straight away. He raises his eyebrow at the American stamp in the corner. The last time Steve messaged him he was somewhere in India.   
  
He doesn’t need to open the letter to know what it says. It was only a matter of time before Steve let him know he wasn’t coming home. Putting it off as long as possible, the letter sits on the dining room table for a week before Danny can’t put it off any longer.   
  
Uncapping a beer from the fridge, he holds the bottle in one hand and the letter in the other. He takes both down to the beach and lowers himself down into his chair. It’s funny, he thinks to himself, that he still considers one of them his and one of them Steve’s.  
  
Half the bottle is gulped down before he finally slides his finger under the flap and rips it open. Inside he finds two pieces of paper, both sides of each lead covered in writing. He finds his way to the beginning of the message, braces himself with a deep breath and begins to read. 

_ Danno,   
_ _ I’ve started this letter about twenty times now. Didn’t expect to find it so hard. Do you remember the last time I wrote you a letter? I hadn’t told you I was leaving and I couldn’t tell you when I would be back. I know you were unhappy with the way I left, not just back then. Leaving Hawaii, leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.   
  
_ _ Travelling around the world has given me plenty of time to think, to reflect on the last ten years. Yes, it’s been hard. I’ve lost more than most. But I gained so much too and being away has reminded me of that. Sorry if it felt like I never appreciated what I had, never appreciated having you, Gracie, Charlie in my life. For a long time, I didn’t truly know what it means to have a family.   
  
_ _ It’s taken me nearly six months to realise I’ve not been moving towards something new. I’ve been running away from something. As much as I try to fight it. I kept moving, from country to country, looking for a distraction, looking for something to make the feeling go away but no matter what I do, it’s never enough.   
  
_ _ Because you see, I know now. I could be on the other side of the world and I don’t miss Oahu at all. It just feels like another place on my list of travels. It was where I lived, but it’s not home. But you? If I lost you? I couldn’t go on. It’s you I miss. You’re my home.  
  
_ _ Since going away it’s become harder and harder to ignore my feelings. Everything out here reminds me of you. I thought I even saw you the other day, out on the street as my taxi passed by. I think it was a sign.  
  
_ _ I’m sorry for many things Danno, sorry for the way I left, sorry for leaving you when you still needed me. But most of all I’m sorry for taking ten years to tell you how much you mean to me. I love you Danno. What we have? It’s more than a friendship. Deep down I think I’ve always known what we were to each other. There’s a reason none of my relationships worked out. There’s a reason you slotted so easily into my life like you had always belonged there.   
  
_ _ I realise I’m a coward for telling you in a letter instead of face to face. Just add it to the list of things I need you to forgive me for. I’m still not ready to return to Hawaii, but if you can forgive me, if you do feel the same, I’ll be waiting.   
  
_ _ Love, always  
_ _ Steve _

  
“Fuck.”   
  
Danny hadn’t been expecting that. His heart pounds in his chest and his hands shake. How is it possible that man can have such an effect on him from thousands of miles away?   
  
He reads the letter again and again until it’s too dark outside to see the words. He heads back inside, dumps the bottle into the recycling blindly and heads upstairs to bed. The letter is propped up against his alarm clock where he can see it and he finds himself smiling as he drifts off.   
  
The next day another letter comes. Steve again. This time the message is short. 

_  
I’m here, if you feel the same. _

  
Alongside the message is an address on a creased post-it note and an airline ticket with an open date on it.   
  
It doesn’t take long for Danny to make his decision, but it takes another two weeks for him to get everything organised. He meets with the Governor, tells the team and spends a full week with Charlie to make up for the time he’s about to lose. It’s not forever, but just like Steve, there’s something he needs to do.   
  
Ten hours later, Danny is pulling up to the small remote cabin. With a belly full of nerves, he walks up to the property. He tells himself it’s just Steve, there’s nothing to be nervous about. But he knows he’s on the edge of a cliff about to jump and he’s never been great with heights.  
  
He tries knocking on the door first. When no-one appears after a few minutes, he presses his face up against the window and peers inside. He can’t see anyone moving around but at the other end of the room is an open door, leading out into the back yard. Stepping back off the porch, Danny looks for a way round the back and after a little bit of exploration, finds an unlocked gate on the side of the house.   
  
As he emerges from the side and out into the back yard, his eyes take in the huge lake which had been hidden from view by the large trees and bushes surrounding the cabin. The lake is a dark green and stretches far beyond the eye can see. Sticking out from the wild grass and flowers covering the ground at the back of the property is a long wooden jetty that pushes twenty feet into the lake.  
  
Standing at the end of the jetty, Danny finally sees Steve for the first time in six months. The longest they’d gone without seeing each other in ten years. Even from a distance, he looks good. Danny had somehow forgotten how good Steve could look.   
  
Whilst Danny stands there and stares, Steve still has his back to Danny and hasn’t noticed he isn’t alone. Danny watches him lower a rod and a cooler into the small rowboat which was bobbing up and down gently beside the dock.   
  
Whilst Steve is distracted, Danny steps onto the jetty and walks towards him with a single focus. On the outside, he looks calm but inside his heart is racing. In his jacket pocket is Steve’s letter, worn from being read over and over.   
  
Danny is only a few feet away when Steve hears footsteps and knows he isn’t alone. Slowly he raises up and turns around. His eyes widen in shock and Danny hears his name being murmured. Danny doesn’t stop moving forward, his eyes locked in on Steve ahead of him. Steve stays stock still as Danny comes to a stop right in front of him, the tips of their shoes almost touching. Without pausing, Danny lifts his hands up to cup Steve’s face and pulls him down until their lips meet.   
  
Danny is impressed with how quickly Steve gets over the shock and a moment later Steve’s arms are tight around his waist. They battle for control of the kiss, a teasing banter of hands and lips and tongues that reminds Danny of everything that’s built up to this moment. Fighting over control of the car, debates and arguments, a push and pull that makes them  _ them.   
  
_ Eventually, they break apart and Danny sucks in lungfuls of air. He looks at Steve almost in shock. They actually did it. They finally got their heads out of their asses. He leans in again, brushes his lips against Steve’s briefly just because he can and then rests his forehead against Steve’s. He notices that Steve is just as affected by their kiss as he is, his cheeks red and his chest heaving. Danny can’t help but feel a little smug.   
  
“You’re an idiot,” Danny tells him as soon as he has enough oxygen spare to speak.  
  
Steve shrugs against him.  “You knew that when you flew here,” he replies.   
  
“Okay, so we’re both idiots.”

  
  


* * *

Danny had only popped back into the kitchen to get them both a beer when he hears a message come through on his phone. He puts the beer back down on the counter and makes his way into the next room where his phone is sitting on a side table at five percent battery.   
  
It’s a message from Grace and Danny grins as he reads it.   
  
_ Hi Danno,   
_ _ Me and Charlie are nearly there. See you both soon!  
  
_ If possible, his grin gets wider.   
  
It’s spring break and instead of spending the week with friends doing God knows what that Danny doesn't even want to think about, Grace is on her way to the cabin with Charlie. She had picked her younger brother up from the airport. Rachel had been surprisingly okay with Charlie flying on his own and had dropped him off at the airport into the care of an air steward who looked after him the entire way. They still had a few hours drive ahead of them and it would probably be dark by the time they arrive. After missing them both like crazy, it had been Steve who suggested the pair came to visit.   
  
The cabin, a little patch of heaven beside a large lake on the Vermont/Quebec border is theirs for the next two months. After that, they haven't decided where to go or what to do next. Danny has another six months booked off from 5-0 so there’s still plenty of time to figure things out. There’s always that London sightseeing book which they need to complete and they have both promised friends and family that they would stop by for a visit. Steve has even finally agreed to visit New Jersey with him which Danny is looking forward to.   
  
_ We can’t wait to see you. Drive safe. Love you.  _ He replies.  
  
He puts the phone back down, sticking it on to charge at the same time, and heads back outside via the kitchen to retrieve the beers. Walking down the through the unkempt yard and onto the jetty, Steve is waiting for him in a deck chair at the end, a matching chair empty beside him. They’re not the same as the chairs still sitting out on their own little stretch of beach in Hawaii but they’re comfortable enough.   
  
The sun shines down on the lake and the ripples glisten almost blindingly. It’s still early in the year so whilst there’s not a cloud in the sky there’s a slight chill in the air. Danny’s wrapped up warm in a jacket and layers that Steve likes to slip his hands under whenever he gets the chance.   
  
The cabin, the lake, being miles from anywhere has been good for Steve, Danny can see it in his eyes. The Steve he’s with now is a far cry from the Steve that left Oahu all those months ago. They both still have a long way to go but they know now that they will heal better together than apart.   
  
Steve tells him stories most nights about the places he’s been to and the people he’s met. He doesn’t regret the solo adventure, but it has taken him staying in one place to really begin to feel at peace. Here with nothing but the fish in the lake, the birds in the trees and Danny for company, he’s able to sleep through the night. With Danny’s help, he’s been able to understand who he now is and come to terms with how he got here. Every genuine smile on his face makes Danny’s heart skip a beat.  
  
Steve looks up as Danny nears and reaches out for the beer bottle as Danny offers it up. As Danny lowers himself down into the chair they clink glasses and each take a sip silently.   
  
Danny’s free hand dangles over the arm of the chair and his fingers brush against Steve’s. He’s not sure if it’s the temperature outside or Steve that sends shivers down his spine.   
  
“The kids, they’ll be here soon,” he informs Steve.   
  
“Yeah?” Steve leans back in his chair and his eyes slide shut. It’s a sight that Danny wants to memorise.   
  
He feels a tug on his hand and a moment later Steve’s fingers are threading through his and squeezing tightly. Danny squeezes back.


End file.
